Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It brings me a great deal of pleasure to say a few words at this tail end of senators' statements, because Senator Catryna Bilyk joined us earlier today, and wonderful words were said by Senator Carol Brown about a great person who has been dedicated to her community, to giving a voice to people who don't have a voice, and to speaking out when it is not always fashionable. I also had the luck of sitting next to Senator Bilyk for a large period of my time in the Senate, so I heard a lot of that firsthand. She would never stay quiet if she thought I was on the wrong track. She would never stay quiet if she thought somebody else was on the wrong track, because she always felt it was really important to make sure that there was a clear expression of views—it was an opportunity to represent the people she spent a life representing.

Looking back on her wonderful career as an early childhood educator, we see that she was an industrial officer for the Australian Services Union—she came through the early childhood area to take up that role. She was an advocate who also took up the role of adviser to the Tasmanian Labor members David Crean, Ken Bacon, and David Llewellyn. She was also National Vice President of the Australia Labor Party. All those roles demonstrate and mould a person—actually, I think she moulded those roles rather than the roles moulding her. One thing about Catryna, and all of us here who have had the pleasure of dealing with Catryna on personal, professional and senatorial levels know, is that she is a person who reaches out, attempting—and achieving—to get people listening to her particular view as expressed from her life experience.

As a researcher, a representative, an advocate for people in various roles in community services, and a member of a number of committees right across the Senate, Catryna has cross-examined a large number of people—she has cross-examined me a few times, sitting not so quietly next to me in the Senate here—right across the community spectrum, making sure that she got to the heart of what needed to be done and what needed to be heard, making sure the facts were brought out and the accountability was there for all to see. Senator Bilyk is a great example of those hardworking, dedicated and determined Senate individuals that have made such a difference to so many of us. Thank you, mate. You've made a difference for me as well.